Revenge of the Bandgeeks
by Lady Epur
Summary: Ellie is a bandgeek. So are her friends. When the school starts to treat them differently, what do they do? Band together or fall apart? 'Scuse the pun
1. Ellie Gets Flirty

I slumped further in my seat. We were on our way to an away game. And I wasn't even on the bus number I wanted to be on. Plus Larry and Natalie were like, three seats in front of me. Who wants to watch Larry and Natalie? No one I know. They are a couple, unfortunately, and they just... well, they aren't very attractive people, you know? The BOTH of them are, so it's kind of like a double-whammy.

Good thing they couldn't get away with more than arms-around-each-other and hand-holding. It's a rule that all couples must sit in the first five seats of the bus, on account of a couple having sex in the back of the bus going to an away game three hours away last year. I'm not even kidding. It was totally gross, too. I sat pretty close to the "action." I don't even know how they got away with it for so long, either. I mean, they weren't exactly trying to suppress their moans or anything. But they DID have a garment bag over them, at least. I shudder even to think who has that garment bag this year. HOPEFULLY not me, but you can never be sure...

Our band director FREAKED out, though. He made them sit out from the performance AND they weren't allowed to be in marching band anymore. Which was just as well because they were both seniors. He called their parents and everything. THEN we all got this HUGE lecture about what's appropriate and what isn't. I was so annoyed. Three hours of lectures going home, and I was on the bus with the band director, which was even worse, and the "violators" were on there, too, sitting VERY far away from each other, but at least looking ashamed.

What I thought was a hoot was how they all tried to keep the whole thing under-wraps. But you can NEVER keep ANYTHING a secret, _especially_ when the WHOLE band knew about it. The rumors lost wind by the time school let out last year, though. But now the couples are carefully watched, and if so much as a kiss on the cheek happens, things get hectic.

But I haven't found this rule annoying, since I'm not part of a couple, much to my chagrin.

Yup. I'm a fourteen-year-old flute playing girl in the marching band who's never been kissed. Pathetic, isn't it? Especially since my twin sister has had AT LEAST three or four boyfriends(that she kisses) since marching band season of last year. I mean, I've got more in the breast department than her, and she STILL has more experience than me.

Maybe it's because she's twenty-seven seconds older than me. But I doubt it. And I doubt it's because she plays the clarinet, either. The flute girls are usually more desirable than the clarinet girls, I have noticed, but obviously I must be an irregularity. Not surprising, because when I was born, they didn't even know it was twins... they hadn't seen my head in the sonogram, so they just thought Piper was the only one. But no. I was the other half.

Anyways, this was _so_ not the time to be wallowing my own self-pity. I mean, Airi was having boy troubles, and Cammie SO cannot give her the tips she REALLY needs to ditch that loser. I turned my head around, whipping my hair into Kenny(my seat buddy, he's a bit of a dork... actually, a big dork)'s face, facing Airi.

"But now he just won't leave me alone!" Airi was saying.

"Hon, I get that problem ALL the time! You just gotta tell 'em straight out that you're not interested in that sort of relationship. It's even worse to just ignore them, believe me," I said.

Airi looked at me. "I guess you're right, but I don't wanna hurt him, you know?"

"Well, if you're still unsure, let's get a guy's opinion, shall we?"

I turned to face Kenny. "Would you rather have a girl ignore than tell you straight out she doesn't like you like that?"

Kenny was taken aback for a moment. He doesn't really talk to girls all that much, and they don't talk to him much, either.

I was about to ask the same question again(I'm not a very patient person), but he answered before I could.

"I would rather her tell me straight out."

I turned back to Cammie and Airi, wearing a smug smile.

"Oh shut-up, Ellie!"

I put a hand to my chest. "I never even said anything!"

Airi rolled her eyes. I turned to face the front again, then looked down at my lap. My flute case, lyer, and manga were bothering me. I turned to a Junior flute sitting across from me. She had an empty seat next to her. I asked her if she could put my flute case there. She shook her head stubbornly, and I sighed.

"I'll hold your things for you, Ellie," said Kenny.

I turned to face him. "Really?"

"Of course," he said, holding out his hands.

I put the flute case, lyer and manga in his hands. He slid them onto his own lap. He was looking at the manga. "You can read it if you want."

He nodded to me. I looked up for a moment and saw Larry sucking on Natalie's neck. I made a disgusted face and turned back to Cammie and Airi, not sitting correctly like the rules said the rest of the way.

**.:At The Game:.**

When we got there, it was a mad rush like always to locate and don our uniforms. During which time I always try to find various Freshmen football trainees that I know. I talked it up with them for a while until Mr. Talbot whistled for us to get to the stands. I ran to my garment bag, unzipped it, and donned my uniform in a mad rush. Kioshi, a Freshman trumpet was still there when I was getting the uniform on. He came over and zipped up my coat since it zipped up from the back.

I turned to face him. "Thanks."

He smiled at me, showing a row of beautiful white teeth. He was one of the best trumpets in the band, despite being a Freshman. But he was totally clueless about it. Just like he was clueless about how hot he was. Or maybe he wasn't that cute... I dunno. I've always had the oddest taste in guys. I guess he's just gorgeous to me because I've had a crush on him since the middle of last year, when I moved to this town.

He just struck me as the PERFECT boyfriend. Maybe it was because he was the first boy who ever held the door open for me, and I had only JUST arrived at the school. Or maybe it was because of how good a trumpet he is.

It really doesn't matter that much now, though. All that really matters is that I really like him and that's an important fact. To me, anyways.

"What were you doing for the past half hour?" he inquired.

"Talking to some football players." Okay. I know how to handle guys. THAT is what I'm REALLY good at. Every boy I come across I basically flirt with. Which can cause problems because sometimes they take it the wrong way and then I end up breaking some hearts. But SO not my fault.

Okay, it is. But don't burst my bubble! It's not ME they're in love with, but the fact that I paid attention to them, really.

He bent down and picked up my flute from the ground. "Well, Miss Popularity, I hope I'm _worthy_ enough to be in your presence."

I rolled my eyes, accepting the flute. "Please, Kioshi, you're making me blush."

He gave me one of those little half-smiles. "Good. It's about time I see you blush. Seeing as you make everyone else do it."

I made a little gasping sound. He just laughed. "Promise me a spot next to you on the bus on the way back, okay? Seeing you there with Kenny made me a little more jealous than I would like."

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

The flute section leader, Amy, leaned over the stands and looked down at us. "Stop flirting, Ellie! The team's due to come out in half-a-minute!"

Kioshi and I navigated through the throng of High Schoolers who had come to see the game. There was no where NEAR enough room in the stands for all the students, and so many of them were hanging around the fence barring them from the field.

We succeeded getting into the stands just in time to play a chorus of Hail to the Cavaliers when the football team came running out.

Of course there were the boos from the stands on the other side of the football field, but it was easily drowned out by our cheers. We all danced about in the stands while we played our songs.

We did our half-time fairly well. Except on the third song, the lead trumpet messed up BAD on her solo, but Kioshi chimed in just in time to save it.

Every single song our band played, the other band played it, as if it were an echo. It was SUCH an open invitation to battle. But of course, Mr. Talbot wouldn't let us. Maybe he was above such things, or maybe he was afraid we'd lose. I dunno what it is, but we never battled back. Even though our band was SO much better than theirs. It wasn't an opinion, it was a fact.

The Cavaliers won, 35-32. It was only by three points, but we still won. We hung around the field for about half-an-hour before leaving, but mainly because we had to get all of the equipment into the storage truck. Along with the percussion equipment and various large instrument cases, we also had a drumset, an electric guitar, and two bass guitars. Yeah, our band also had a rock band. I think that kinda makes up for the whole not being able to battle back thing, but only by a little bit.

Like I promised, I saved the seat for Kioshi, who immediately took the things in my lap and put it in his own. We were all sweaty, just having gotten out of our band uniforms, and I was definitely NOT at my best. But at least I didn't smell. Thank God.

And neither did he, I was pleased to notice. He smelled like soap, and that is a pleasant smell coming off him, let me tell you.

We were far in the back of the bus. Mr. Talbot was a little suspicious about that at first, but he passed it off since:

a) Kioshi kinda saved the show

and

b) everyone else insisted that we weren't a couple.

I looked up to see Airi and Cammie wiggling their eyebrows at me a couple seats up. I tried not to look past them so I would see Larry and Natalie, but unfortunately, I did, and I ended up squirming in my seat.

Kioshi laughed. "Took a glimpse of Larry and Natalie, eh?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Hard to take the image of them out of you head, eh?"

I nodded again. All the windows were open, and even though I was SO hot about half-an-hour ago in my uniform, I was positively freezing now. The night air was freezing on my bare skin, and I couldn't shake the shivers I had.

Kioshi noticed my trembling. "Are you cold?"

I nodded. He closed the window next to him.

It was no where near enough. Air was coming all around and I was still shivering. I knew this was making Kioshi uneasy, so I was trying to suppress it.

He put and arm around my neck and pulled me closer to him, his warm body instantly warming me. I looked up at him.

"Don't say anything, Elle. I hate to you see you uncomfortable is all."

I suddenly felt tired. Like fall-asleep-right-at-this-moment tired. My eyelids could NOT stay up.

I smiled at him. "Thanks," I said in a soft voice.

"Tired?"

How could he sense these things?

I nodded my head drearily.

He took his right hand(his left was attached to the arm around my neck) and gently pushed my head into his shoulder. "Sleep. We've got at least an hour-and-a-half before we get back."

I closed my eyes without an argument and fell asleep easily.

(THERE'S SUPPOSED TO A LINE THINGY TO SIGNIFY TIME PASSING BY BUT IT'S NOT WORKING! GRR)

"Elle, Elle, wake up."

I heard Kioshi's voice urging me, he was shaking me lightly. We were pulling into the student parking lot of the school, coming close to the entrance to the band room.

I made a small sound, and took my head off his shoulder.

I looked at Kioshi's watch(since it was pretty close to my head) and saw the time. One in the morning. The bus came to a complete stop, and when I got off, I looked around. My father was there, in his hot little dark green Mustang convertible he had bought over the summer. I still had to put my uniform on the rack and take my garment bag off, so I went over to the car and told him to wait.

Piper was coming off another bus and was heading inside the band room, with about three of her many followers around her. She was an even worse flirt than I was.

I located my uniform and took it out of it's garment bag, heading into the band room with it.

I put it in the rack in one of the armoires, trying not to smell inside it. We need some Febreze in the uniform room, that's for sure.

I went to my band locker and put my garment bag in it, then went to the chair I sit in during band practice and loaded all of my remaining crap into my backpack. My marching shoes were giving my feet blisters, but I didn't feel like changing out of them.

Kioshi came up behind me while I was putting my stuff in my backpack.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty, wanna do something tomorrow?"

My heart almost stopped. Was he asking...?

"I mean, me, you, Piper, and some other guys are going to play laser tag tomorrow and I thought maybe you'd come, you know, if you aren't busy or anything."

"Well, I have babysitting tomorrow, from seven til two."

"Come if you can. You'll be paid for if you do!"

I nodded. He stepped closer to me and whispered: "Piper doesn't have to come if she doesn't have to... to be frank, I'd rather you be there than her."

I was kind of shocked. Guys usually don't prefer me over my twin sister. "Well that's good," I replied, "Because she has lacrosse practice."

"Don't forget!" he said, heading out.

Airi and Cammie came up behind me and starting freaking out over the whole me-and-Kioshi ordeal on the bus. I let them freak out for a little while.

"Guys, I have to go, I have babysitting and I want at least three hours of sleep!"

I put my backpack over my shoulder, grabbed my flute case and jumped into the convertible. Piper climbed into the front seat, and we were off in the cold night air with the top down. I shivered the whole way home; Kioshi wasn't there to keep me warm.

(SAME THING AGAIN WITH THE LINE THINGY)

**Okay guys, you know what to do. I have NO IDEA what's going to happen with this story, but I hope you'll bear with me and my whacky ideas.**


	2. Evil Rock Hard Wallets

**To my friends who are reading this: **

**The characters who got picked on are ALL MADE UP. Okay? Okay.**

**(GGGGRRRRR Evil line thingy's not working!)**

Laser tag is a great thing to do when you're bored.

THANK GOD Kioshi asked me to go, because I had nothing to do on Saturday. Seriously. Well, besides that whole babysitting thing, but yeah, like that counts.

I had fun. I was wearing a pretty bright color so everyone could see me, but I didn't really care. I was falling all over people, and vice versaMe and Timmy, the only freshman on the drumline, lost. And we were supposed to pay for everyone's lunch. I was all: "yeah right," but Timmy was actually very chivalrous and actually went to pay for all eight of us, Dalia(a dramageek/non-band-geek much like Matthew, though he's not going go to be in a production this year), Lily(one of my non-band-geek friends), Kioshi, Matthew(a sophomore trumpet), Allen(who "accidentally" groped me in the dark), me, and himself, but everyone really just meant it as a joke.

Laser tag spanned only about an hour, two at most, so we went to a movie after that, watching Talladega Nights and making fun of it.

But even all of THAT wasn't enough, I suppose, because we all ended up at Timmy's house and went swimming for like, ever. His little brother Joey came out, too, wanting to join in on the fun, but then his little girlfriend or whatever called him and he went off to talk to her.

Though he came back very soon and jumped in because why would you want to talk to your twelve-year-old girlfriend when you can hang in the pool with high school girls in bikinis, that we all looked quite good in, I think, despite our own objections.

My older sister came to pick me up and Piper was there, too. It was one of the first times I felt that I looked better than Piper. I mean, she was all sweaty and stuff, and I was wearing a towel and beads of water was dripping into that little space between my boobs, which I know for a fact the guys weren't ignoring. I hugged everyone and left with my sisters, then pretty much slept until my dad woke me up at six and told me to get ready and that we were going to South Carolina for a family reunion.

A day of driving and cheek-pinching and I was back home, trying to get some headway on my history project.

So when Monday rolled around, I was so deprived from lack of sleep and I totally wasn't giving band practice my all. Plus Cammie and Airi were freaking out and asking me how the whole laser tag thing went. I told them about Allen and the whole "accidental" groping thing. But he grew the balls to apologize for it, even though I _was_ kind of making a big deal out of it.

But you would, too. It freaking HURT! And it was giving me some-not-so great flashbacks to other stuff that's happened in my life, which I'm not going to take the time to tell you because, quite frankly, it's my business and you better be lucky that I'm even telling you all that I am!

The whole week was really just work, work, work. I barely had enough time to finish my projects for various classes(but that may be because I was procrastinating), let alone practice my flute and do the two hour practice sessions after school. I almost couldn't go to church on Wednesday because of my workload, but I pulled it off, being the genius that I am.

Shut-up.

The game on Friday wasn't too remarkable. We did pretty well on our half-time show, and some flirting ensued between Kioshi and I, but nothing major. The weekend, all three days of it, weren't very exciting either.

I don't even know why I bothered to say that. I mean, I must be boring you all silly! So I'll get to the GOOD stuff, which happened at the game versus Lebanon.

First of all, we have two hours of leisure time before our rehearsal. You can go home if you want, but like, no one does. We just hang out around the school and stuff, being the bandgeeks that we are.

After the bell rang, me, Airi, and Timmy were heading towards a stairwell at the end of a hallways on the first floor. I was walking backwards, and I fell, falling right on my butt. I even slid back a ways as well. I had to admit it was pretty funny, though I'm pretty sure I bruised it. My butt, I mean. Evil rock-hard wallets...

When we were heading towards the foreign language wing, some of our REALLY dorky bandgeek friends, Joe(a small-ish clarinet) and Martin(a small-ish saxophone) had just gotten smashed into their lockers by some bigger guys. **(A/N: Joe and Martin are made-up, okay? But feel free to insert any clarinet or saxophone whom you think deserve this somewhat and I won't mind...)**

"Hey! Leave them alone!" I was completely outraged. NO ONE picks on the bandgeeks and gets away with it. NO FREAKING WAY. It just ISN'T done. Well, if I have anything to do with it, anyways...

The larger boys just kept on laughing. "Yeah, and what are you gonna do about it?" one of them asked.

"Don't underestimate my power!" I yelled back.

That made him laugh. "Yeah right, you're just a little geeky slut!"

I took offense at that. I mean, wouldn't you? These guys didn't even know me. They had no right to judge me. And anyways, I was wearing that dark blue CHS marching band shirt that came down to my thighs, practically, and blue jeans with NO holes. I did not look one bit slutty. I wasn't even wearing make-up for goodness's sake! Maybe he thought that because I was stroking my sore bottom...

I was willing to let it go. I mean, they were pretty dumb anyway, they were gonna get it sometime soon. They were gonna call a girl a slut and her boyfriend's gonna be there and he's gonna beat the stuffing out of him. Far be it from me to stop it, let me tell you. So there I was, walking away. I mean, Joe and Martin had run off so those boys couldn't pick on them anymore, well, as long as they stayed near the band room, when I had this bang. I turned around and saw the boy who had called me a slut, slammed against a locker, his feet completely off the ground.

Timmy was at the other end, a fistful of shirt in one hand and a sneer on his face. "Apologize to her! She is not a slut and does not deserve to be called one!"

The other guy had run off. I would have, too. I mean, Timmy could have easily been on the football team on account of his size and could be pretty intimidating when he wants to be. Not that I've ever been on the receiving end of that, but he looked pretty intimidating from my vantage point.

"Timmy!" I screamed out. He looked over at me.

The guy was seriously groveling now. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! You're not a slut!"

Timmy let him go, albeit a little forcefully, but at least now it did not look like anything wrong was happening. Airi was shaking her head.

I should seriously be a psychic. I knew something like that was going to happen, but I had no idea it would happen then. I'm so gifted. Well, except for the whole boyfriend part, but whatever.

We came to the Spanish class Airi and I had. She had to do a make-up assignment, and I wanted to go with because I wanted to see if I had any zeros I could make-up. And Timmy... well, I'm not really sure why he came with us, but oh well. Speaking of him, though, he wasn't that much of a talker at the moment. He wasn't looking at me, anyways. Maybe he was embarrassed. For what, I couldn't tell you, but he oughtn't have been. I mean, he was totally awesome, sticking up for me and my "innocense" and all.

The only zero I had was something Mr. Andrews didn't have for me to make-up. So I was kind of just standing there, waiting for Airi to finish up, while Timmy was subtly telling me how much time he had left before he had percussion sectionals(I guess it's not enough to hold a 50 pound instrument on your shoulders for the marching, you also had to do it for a straight hour because Mr. Howe is a freaking perfectionist. Must SUCK to be in the drumline.), and I was like: "Airi, are you almost done?"

And she was like: "No, you can leave."

"But friends suffer together!" (Says me)

Timmy interjected: "I have five minutes until practice..."

"Okay, I'm going. I'll be waiting in the band room for you, braving the drumline's sound in a confined space!" (Me again)

So me and Timmy left and he went off for practice(I admire the freaking drumline, sometimes. So much dedication...), and I sat in my chair for a total of three minutes before high-tailing it out of the room. After waiting for about three minutes(I've said this before, I'm NOT a patient person), I went to the Spanish room and Airi finished up and we went to our lockers and then over to listen to music Piper, Jade, and their followers were listening to.

Rehearsal was pretty much run-of-the-mill, though the 98.5 tailgating people were playing songs I knew and so I was shake-shake-shaking my booty to it when I was supposed to be standing at attention... hehehe, oops.

We went back to the band room, where Timmy pretended not to notice me. I couldn't understand, maybe he broke some man-code or something. Kioshi came over and we did some major flirting. We both "did" each other. (Which means he zipped up my coat and I zipped up his. Yes, the bandgeeks are perverted. You'd be surprised how kinky Alex can make our band uniforms sometimes, doing the whole "shiny buttons" thing.)

I was kind of glad that Larry and Natalie went out for dinner. At least none of us had to see them get "cuddly" (Though Larry had vowed not to be after Mr. Talbot had lectured him about the PDA...).

Something important: we got hats this time!And if you're a bandgeek and you saw the Cavaliers at DCI**(A/N: They were awesome! The Green Machine, heck yeah!)**, then you'll know what our hat looks like because it looks just like theirs! I know, I know. We're lucky.

Airi's mom put my hair up in ties, which actually didn't turn out to be a good idea and you'll find out why, and we donned our hats and marched in.

Piper threw up before half-time because she was choking and no one noticed(not very often does she go unnoticed, let me tell you...) So she had to stick her finger down her throat and puke it out.

Yeah. The band's THAT hard on us that they often drive us to work so hard we puke.

You know I'm kidding.

I was suffering a bit during the game too, though it wasn't that bad after half-time, thank God. I mean, it was "that time of the month" and cramps were coming in MONSTER waves of pain, plus some intimately placed blisters... bleh. Though usually it doesn't make me throw up(which I did do on Wednesday, but usually the cramps only last ONE day).

It was our first game doing ALL of the drill for the show, and I think it was pretty good, overall.

After the game, Kioshi left with a quick kiss on my cheek before I even had my coat off. I was trying to get all the hair ties out of my hair for Airi, but by the time I had gotten them all(Timmy had tried to assist, but he didn't want to hurt me, so when he went off the find scissors, I just pulled it straight out.), she was gone, so it was pretty much a waste.

The next day I awakened early and left for Knoxville, where I went to a Tennessee Vols football game at Neyland Stadium(NEVER have I seen such a large crowd, we succeeded in doing the wave three times before it died down!). I didn't really come for the football game, but for the marching band, and I was a bit intimidated at how large their band was. Their brass section was about the size of our own band!

The Vols won 31-30, and it took TWO hours to go from Neyland Stadium to residential Knoxville(I was staying with my grandparents). I slept in a REALLY uncomfortable bed, scared that the ghost of my Auntie Dottie was going to do something fearsome that I called the first person I thought of: Timmy.

We talked for... I don't even KNOW how long about everything and nothing. But it was calming and I'd never fallen asleep that fast at my grandparents' in my life.

I think our marching band should have capes on our uniforms. Speaking of that... I need to do something about how the bandgeeks are getting picked on... We are the elite. They should seriously bow down to us.

Don't kill my dream. I like them! And I think some people will agree with me...

And I'm also waiting for Kioshi to invite me to the Homecoming Dance. Waiting... STILL waiting here...

**(Still not working...)**

**So that be it on this chapter. I introduced you to the bullying. Heck yeah. Okay. Now your turn. Review!**

**Lady Epur**


	3. The Delicate Balance of High School

Monday was the day I learned that Joe and Martin ate lunch in the library. Every day.

Believe me was THAT infuriating to find out. I had just finished my English class, having gone to my locker, and was heading towards this spiral staircase that connected the first floor to the second floor. It was also quite near to the library.

"Little Emo Sasukura" and I were passing the vending machines across from the entrance to the library when I saw Joe and Martin heading towards the door looking as small as ever.

(Here's an explanation for Little Emo Sasukura: she's kinda small, and she acts all emo-ish, though she's really not, and it sort of became a name for her. Sasukura's her nickname, and her real name is Shawna, but no one really close to her calls her that.)

I called them over, being a nice person.

They sort of shuffled over.

"Want to walk with us to lunch?" I asked them.

The two looked at each other. Joe spoke up: "actually, Martin and I are eating at the library today. We've got a project, you see, and-"

"No need to explain." I told them. "But you are little procrastinators!"

That was kind of hypocritical, seeing as I ALWAYS wait until the last minute to get my projects done.

"You know they go in there every day, right?" asked Sasukura as we were heading down the staircase.

"Really?"

"Yeah, do you ever see them eat lunch in the caf?"

It was enough fro me to go back up those stairs and head into that library, and drag them to the cafeteria with me. I'm not even kidding.

Sasukura and I parted ways at the doors that accessed the cafeteria and I walked over to my table and put my books down. There were like, ten girls who sat there, and it was supposed to only hold six. But no one actually paid attention to that rule. Not even the teachers themselves, so why bother?

"Did you know that Joe and Martin eat lunch in the library every day?"

Of the ten girls that sat at that table, only one other person was a band geek: Piper. She looked up from the salad she was pouring dressing on.

"Ellie, who cares?"

"I do! This is injustice for bandgeek-manity everywhere!"

Piper rolled her eyes. "They're only getting picked on because they're giving off that sort of nerd vibe. Even if they weren't bandgeeks they'd still probably get picked on."

"Well, since they are bandgeeks, shouldn't we help them?"

Piper sighed and put down the dressing. "Elle, you can't mess up the system. The weak ones get picked on, the jocks have their moment to shine during their high school years, and then the nerds become billionaires and the jocks work for them."

I rolled my eyes."The abuse people think they have to take!"

"Stop being dramatic, Elle..." said Piper, putting a forkful of dressed leave into her mouth.

I mock-glared at her. "Why don't you care? These kids they're picking on are our kind! They're bandgeeks! Don't the bandgeeks stick together?"

"You just don't listen, do you? Do what you want, start an uprising. Just don't drag me into this. I'm still eligible for a homecoming date and I don't want you creating this big drama while I'm flaunting it."

I had to laugh at that. "You've already gotten, like, three invites! Can't you just accept one of those?"

"Not Chase. NOT Mikey, but Allen I could live with..."

Despite the fact that he's taller than you? Well, whatever floats your boat.

This week was an away game. We didn't get to march in, one of my favorite parts, but away games were pretty exciting in its own right.

Especially the rides to them.

Half the kids have to pee about half-way into the ride, but Mr. T. never has us stop so they have to hold it. I laugh at those kids. In fact, Peter, a clarinet and also Piper's basic eighth grade boyfriend had to pee and I laughed at him. He got annoyed at me, which was just as well. I was used to it. I always teased him when he and Piper were going out; I wasn't ABOUT to stop now.

We had to rush to get our uniforms on. It takes a bit of time because we have gauntlets and gloves. We managed to get into the stands in time to play a chorus of "Hail to the Cavaliers" while our football team ran through the field.

I had an AWFUL cough during the entire game. I'd scream, then cough. Talk, then cough. Play, then cough. No matter what I did I always coughed afterwards. And they were painful, hacking coughs.

Timmy was pretty worried about me, to say the least. I wasn't screaming much because I knew I'd have to cough afterwards. When the game was ending, I was hacking out all that I had eaten that day over the bleacher wall and pretty close to Sasukura. Our team won, but I missed the playing of "Hail to the Cavaliers" because I was coughing out my insides. It's just as well, anyways, because I've yet to memorize that song and it was kind of hard to play anyways. The flute part was really embellished with all of these sixteenth notes and I could barely play it with the band, even WHEN I was looking at the music.

I slept on the way back, with no Kioshi to keep me warm, which was just as well, because he was turning into this one Junior trumpet whom he idolized and I didn't particular like that junior trumpet. Also the fact that he was kind of completely ignoring me because he started hang out with TJ, which is said Junior trumpet's name.

So we got home at about eleven that night, then came to the school at nine the next morning to leave for our first competition. It was held at Hendersonville High School, and it was EXTREMELY competitive. We came home with just a participation eagle, I'm embarrassed to admit. But that one band that won the overall sweepstakes was the best I'd ever seen. Up there with the college band they had lined up to perform for exhibition before awards.

It was an all-out bandgeek convention at the competition, I'm not even kidding. They were selling shirts and tapes of the show, as well as daiquiris(alcohol free, of course) and EXTREMELY expensive foodstuffs.

We arrived and waited for the competition workers to stamp our hands to allow us passage to and fro the field. Once that task had been completed we donned our uniforms and headed to our warm-up spot.

After our stretches and warm-ups and tunings, Mr. Talbot huddled us up and gave us a mini-speech to encourage us to do our best.

When we finally marched to the field, I was HOT, and nervous. It must've been AT LEAST eighty-five degrees out there, and our uniforms didn't allow us to breathe much. PLUS, the sun was in our eyes.

When in set, waiting for the field commanders to salute, I realized I had COMPLETELY forgotten the music to all of our songs.

I relayed this information(without moving my lips) to Layla, the flute in the spot right next to mine, who just laughed.

"Put your horn up at the regular spots, follow Carrie(the flute in front of me), and for God's sake, STAY IN STEP!"

I couldn't nod to show that I heard her because of our hats. They were like a blessing and a curse. They were different from the other hats, which was one-up on all the other bands for us, but they were a curse because even the slightest head movement was noticeable.

I DID put my horn-up when everyone else did, and when the song started, I remembered it all. It was just a really bad case of nerves, I realized when I continued with the show.

We did pretty well for our first competition and for starting so early, but considering that we had JUST added the last bit of our show the week before, it was a bit shaky. Especially considering that the last three sets of the show are completely straight lines, and our band isn't so great at lines...

After our performance, we were then filed into the gym where they told us to sit and we watched our performance(yes, the one we had JUST done).

The band director for the university from our home town was the one who critiqued us. He pointed out our faults and our strong points, but he had no say in our score, unfortunately.

We were finally able to shed off our uniforms after that. I felt a bit gross, considering my shirt was damp when I shed off the coat, but it dried out pretty quickly.

Piper and I ate dinner together. Allen joined us once he found us, which was only fitting since he was to be Piper's homecoming date.

I also had one, too. A homecoming date, that is. His name was Page. He wasn't in band, but he could play the piano exceptionally.

We had to hang around and wait for the final division to perform their shows, in which we pointed out every single little meticulous mistake of the show to anyone who would listen.

Come awards time we were all pretty restless. We only ended up with a participation eagle(as I had said earlier), with nothing exceptionally special about our performance insofar to get a trophy for something.

coughcough our guard sucks coughcough

Now maybe my cough is just a tad bit harsh. But hey, they're our scapegoat. May not be fair, but there's more of us then there are them, so we can get away with it.

The ride home was the beginning of "Shingibitty(shin-ji-buhtee)." That was the word made up by Alex for whenever Larry and Natalie were doing something particularly gross. Someone would yell out shingibitty and that would signal you to cover your eyes and not look up. It was a very helpful invention, for the ride home was quite long and the lights inside the bus were broken so it was kind of dark.

We got home at about one in the morning. I was SO tired I was a bit wacky. Someone would say something and I would just laugh. Like someone said the word blanket and that kept me sniggering for two minutes straight. For no particular reason, either. I was just tired. And that's how I act when I'm tired.

I went home and slept til two in the afternoon, which was unusual for me, since I usually wake up quite early.

When I woke up, my mom asked me if I wanted to go dress shopping with her and Piper, and of course I answered yes.

We went to the mall and found a nice dress store. The first dress that Piper tried on she liked, but I went through like, five before my mother gave me a red version of Piper's dress(which was black). I liked the dress, so we bought the matching dresses as well as some HIGH heels for the both of us. Even though we didn't really need them. The heels, I mean. Piper was ALREADY taller than her date, and the heels will just make it even worse.

I knew already that the heels would make me taller than my date, but only by a couple of centimeters so I didn't really pay much heed.

Despite the fact that I had to perform in the game before the homecoming dance and that I'd be all sweaty, I was looking forward to the homecoming dance. I know that Kioshi never asked me, but I think I'm fine with that. He is kind of annoying me now. He isn't exactly turning out to be all the perfectness that I had thought him to be.

Hey. I'm only fourteen. Expect me to have a crush and keep it for all eternity? HA! I laugh at you. Just like I laugh at the people who have to pee during rides to away games and competitions.

I had let my guard down over the weekend because the competition was so obviously like a bandgeek convention that I hadn't thought to remember how much I'd need it on Monday...

If only I hadn't let my guard down. Would it have changed anything? Maybe.

But would I have wanted it to turn out any differently?

My honest answer?

I have no clue.

* * *

**Okay kids, did I leave you confused at the ending? **

**Don't worry. It'll all make sense in the next chapter.**

**Till then:**

**Lady Epur **


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